Trial & Migration

To see how the new ActiveCollab works, create a free trial, start a few demo projects in it, and see if you want to upgrade.

You can use your existing account email and password to create the trial. It will then appear as a new account on accounts.activecollab.com.

If you decide to upgrade, all the data from the previous version can be moved to the new ActiveCollab. You’ll then have an exact copy of your database. The data created in the new ActiveCollab can't be moved into the old version.

Cloud users will be able to upgrade to the new version by clicking a button in their ActiveCollab and then choose to move their data to the new ActiveCollab account, or by contacting support@activecollab.com.

Self-hosted is in open beta which means you can download it and use it, but it still needs some polishing before we can call it stable.

The previous and the new version of ActiveCollab are separate products, with separate URLs, infrastructure, and database. The only link between the two is the one-way data migration channel.

Transferring your projects and other data is a one-way process. You can import everything from the previous version to the new one, but not the other way around. In other words, you can’t transfer your work back to the previous version once you’ve upgraded.

Partial migration is not possible (eg. having only a couple of projects moved to the new version). You can only move your entire database, and then continue where you left off.

Cloud subscribers won't be forced to upgrade. That means it's possible to stay with the previous version or upgrade to the new one. If you choose to upgrade, we’ll freeze your old account and keep a backup of your data.

Your data won’t get lost when you upgrade. No matter what, your data is safe. The two versions have separate databases, so you can switch without loosing any data.

At the moment, the new ActiveCollab is available in English only, while the support for other languages will come in the future.

Self-Hosted

The upgrade isn’t automatic and there’s no special button in activeCollab to do it. You need to download the new version from accounts.activecollab.com in Licenses section.

Once you download it, you install it separately from your existing installation. They don’t share anything, and both versions can coexist on the same server.

Once you install the new ActiveCollab, you’ll be able to import your data. You can still keep using the previous version of self-hosted ActiveCollab. However, you’ll only be able to move your data to the new version and not vice versa.

3rd party modules are no longer supported because they caused a lot of stability and performance issues. That means you won’t be able to add new buttons or functionality to the user interface in ActiveCollab.

All the integrations will be done via the new and improved API and webhooks; so even though you won't be able to add new functionality into ActiveCollab itself, you'll be able to make your own apps and do whatever you want with the information from your ActiveCollab.

Trying Out ActiveCollab

You can use your existing ActiveCollab while you’re trying out the new version. We’ve kept 90% of the previous features, and plan on introducing many more. But if you’re dependent on a specific feature that’s absent — you can keep using the previous version and not make the switch.

While trying out ActiveCollab, you’ll get a feeling it’s much lighter and less complex — which was our goal. Some lesser known features were dropped or have been redesigned so they fit in better. ActiveCollab may only seem lighter, but all the power is still there.

You may need some time to get your team familiar with the new workflow. If you’re in the middle of a complex project or you’re very busy — use the old ActiveCollab until you can set some time aside to get comfortable with the new interface.

If you’re interested to learn more about the development process and why we made some design decisions — read our Labs blog where we documented the process and shared our thoughts.